‘Are you blind or are you downright oblivious that I was ill? You literally slammed me over your shoulder! A normal person with working brains would’ve expected a pool of vomit!’ I rebuke. He insisted that it was my mistake, even when it technically isn’t. But after quarreling for some while, he finally gives in.
            ‘Fine, it’s my fault! Now stop yelling at me or you’re going to wake the baby.’ He gives in, silencing me in defeat. I pause for a moment—he’s never mentioned of any baby.
            ‘The baby? Where in hell did the baby come from!?’
            ‘I was referring to Aubrey’s baby sister. And don’t ever refer to hell when speaking of a child’ He states firmly, reminding me how we’re at Aubrey’s at the moment.
            ‘Oh shit, was I too loud?’ I strike a faint whisper.
            ‘Yes. In fact, my ear had split trying to catch another decibel. Thanks for that.’ He utters in sarcasm and enters what I assume to be the shower room; ramming the door shut behind him. I take the moment to analyze my surroundings and soak up the air. The room is pretty enormous, perhaps even comparable to the size of my living room. It’s embellished Victorian-style with so much extravagance. So much thoughts and deliberations must’ve been put into the designs that go with the concepts of this room. More surprisingly, this is merely the guest room. This Aubrey girl he’s spoken of is one wealthy girl indeed.
            There’s a couch, a bed and a dresser with a chest of drawers on one corner of the room. The bed is one suitable for the goddesses; it is colossal! It’s only been a while and I’m already acquiring a slight sense of resent from the family’s lifestyle of fortune. I dart over and plop onto the bed on my chest. How can a bed even be this comfortable? Whoever this Aubrey girl is, I envy her. I wonder what she’s like. I glance at the alarm clock atop the bedside counter. It reads 01: 05 a.m.—apparently, it is way past midnight. In other words, Jerquis didn’t manage to rescue me from this horrid disaster. Has he even started his search for me? Dad would probably burn Jerquis alive for failing me. I remember that I had stuck my phone in my jeans, so I went ahead and reach for it. This may be very evident, but the screen had shattered due to the many times I had been dropped. At least the device still works.
            11.03: Jerquis, where in the world are you? Please look after me. I’m lost, but I’m okay for now. Please notify dad of this, and I’ll explain further details later on. Please find me alive. I message.
            My thumb was all-set to punch the OK button to send the message, but my ill-fated luck just had to get in the way. In a split second, the screen blacks out; just in time for me to be one millisecond late in sending the message. I grumble in aggravation, tossing my phone away. Seemingly, the battery has gone anorexic and it had perished; letting my phone die on me during a time of need. I bury my head within both palms. What chaos have I gotten myself into? I hear the hinges to the door creak and tip my head up to find Howard emerge out of the bathroom doors in no more than a pair of polka dot boxers. I must confess, the boxers do look pretty sexy on him—but that doesn’t change my perception of him being slightly out of his mind.
            ‘May I please borrow your phone? I have to contact my dad’ I say in insistence.
            ‘Battery is dead.’ He shrugs his shoulders. ‘Better use the telephone downstairs; just ask the nanny to ring whoever it is you want to call.’ He suggests.
            ‘Aren’t you coming?’ I ask him, wondering why he doesn’t seem very concerned upon himself. Perhaps it’s because he knows the actual homeowner and the homeowner for sure knows where we are. Hence, he technically isn’t as lost as I am at least.
            ‘My mum and father in law are already used to my rebel child behavior. Done this dozens of times before and they don’t go searching. I mean, we’re heading back in early morning anyway; so why should I be scared?’ he reasons.
            I was about to argue back, until I considered it for a second. I initially thought of phoning my dad to inform him of everything going on at the moment, but perhaps that isn’t the best option. I really don’t want to incite a brutal dispute with dad in the middle of the night, over the phone. He’d be very furious to know what I’ve gotten my ass into and I can’t handle a debate at this time of day.
            ‘Know what? You’re right.’ I say, trudging back to plop onto the bed. Above that, I’ve always wanted to venture places I don’t recognize. So why can’t I take the time to appreciate this clutter of wildness for once?
            ‘Of course I am!’ He says lightheartedly. Howard smashes himself beside me on the bed; making the entire thing tremble.
            ‘Get off! You’re going to damage another property!’ I order. He doesn’t listen. He instead sticks his tongue out at me before rolling himself into a ball and spiraling sushi-style in my direction. I cross my arms over my chest as if to prepare colliding onto him. Fortunately, we didn’t crash. He’s halted precisely in front of me and chortled at my reaction.
            Then he reaches one arm to flick on the radio atop the counter by my side. ‘You needn’t have a phobia of me. I’m as flawless as it gets’ He says vainly with a flirtatious wink.
            ‘Well, your personality is crap. Perhaps that’s why you’re single as it gets too.’ I affront with a horrific laugh that follows.
            ‘Whatever you say, darling—just prepare your heart to be melted by this Romeo.’
            ‘Alright then, let’s see what the future beholds’ I exclaim; thrilled to play his little game. Why would I fall for a guy who constantly lets me down? He’s dropped me twice today, literally. I might end up with a two dimensional face due to constant face-planting. If my goddamn face ends up looking like a cartoon cut-out, I won’t hesitate to murder him. Howard turns the volume up on blast and a song begins to play on the radio.

Never said we’d be friends,
Trying to keep myself away from you,
’Cause you’re bad, bad news.
With you gone, I’m alive,
Makes me feel like I took happy pills,
And time stands still.

            ‘Happy pills?’ Howard asks, slanting his head to me.
            ‘Is he referring to drugs?’ My comment makes him chuckle a bit. We listened to three continuous tracks after ‘happy pills’ ended and astonishingly succeeded in not arguing with each other through the last fifteen minutes. We listened to the songs in quietude and minded our own businesses. Yet there came a point when I did feel slightly uncomfortable. I would catch him stealing glimpses of me every thirty seconds or so. It makes me feel peculiar, as if I have an obnoxious green substance stuck on my tooth and am being stared at for it—it’s that kind of feeling. I glance over the mound of sheets and pillows to look at him. Unexpectedly, I find him already staring right at me creepily. In one way, you may consider it adorable yet it’s rather disturbing to me. He has this atypical look on his face that I don’t recognize. We lock gazes for a brief; his eyes fixed upon mine and mine latched with his. Oh dear, I must confess how he is definitely gorgeous.
            ‘You have beautiful eyes.’ I suddenly compliment without me even noticing… middle-school style.